Tryfan (place)

A mountain in Snowdonia situated in the Ogwen Valley. Tryfan stands at a height of 915 metres above sea level, which even by Snowdonia's standards is not exactly high. What it lacks in height it makes up for in beauty. It's not a big lumbering hulk of a hill, like Snowdon, but a graceful, steep-sided pyramid with no easy route to the top. It is said that it is impossible to reach the summit without using your hands, something that can't be said for most hills in the UK.

Two stones stand on the summit, called Adam and Eve. A few feet separate them and it is traditional to jump between the stones on completing the climb. If the stones weren't at the top of a cliff, it would be an unchallenging task.

I like Tryfan, it looks like a mountain a kid would draw. It seems to have been formed by the truncation of a ridge, by a glacier that flowed along the Ogwen Valley during the last ice age. This makes the North face extremely steep, the shortest route, a challenging route, but really good fun. You have to scramble most of the way up.

From Tryfan it is a short jaunt up to the Glyders, where some of the best views from Snowdonia can be seen.

I have great respect for Tryfan; a graceful mountain, but can be unforgiving and treacherous. You don't want to be stuck up Tryfan in bad weather. She's a killer in winter.